Converso Daniela, Sottimano Ilaria, Viotti Sara, Guidetti Gloria
Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2020 Feb 21;11:246. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00246. eCollection 2020.
The double role of (CE) defines those workers who simultaneously serve as an informal, unpaid care provider for sick, disabled, or elderly relatives, and it is a situation that is on the increase in most western countries. Providing informal caregiving can lead to detrimental effects on emotional well-being and several physical and psychological diseases (e.g., caregiver-burden). CEs can suffer double discomfort (at work and at home), but, first of all, they can be exposed to a high level of home-to-work conflict (HWI). In this study, we analyzed the CE phenomenon in a typical Italian public company, where the mean age of workers is particularly high.
An online questionnaire related to the perception of HWI, well-being, and discomfort at work (depression, emotional exhaustion, job engagement) in relation to the family load (none, parents with <12 children to care for, caregiver to other adults, or children and older adults to care for/old/children to care for employees) was answered by 1704 administrative workers.
More than 20% of our sample was included in the elder caregiver condition or in the double role or "sandwiched" condition with older adults and children to care for. The family load changed significantly between the different age groups: for workers aged between 55 and 64 years, the percentage was nearly 27%. CEs had higher levels of HWI and of personal and job discomfort and lower levels of engagement, when compared with non-CEs. Having "only" older adults to care for (the typical CE condition) was associated with having the most negative results.
This study confirms and underlines the increasing number of CEs in western organizations and their higher levels of HWI, work disengagement, emotional exhaustion, and depression. As the general population and workforce experience increased "graying," and many more workers become CEs out of necessity, stable caregiver-friendly workplace policies (CFWPs) should be developed.
护理员工（CE）的双重角色指的是那些同时为生病、残疾或年迈的亲属提供非正式无偿护理服务的工作者，这种情况在大多数西方国家呈上升趋势。提供非正式护理可能会对情绪健康以及多种身心疾病（如护理者负担）产生不利影响。护理员工可能会遭受双重不适（工作时和在家时），但首先，他们可能会面临高水平的家庭-工作冲突（HWI）。在本研究中，我们分析了一家典型的意大利上市公司中的护理员工现象，该公司员工的平均年龄特别高。
1704名行政人员回答了一份在线问卷，问卷涉及家庭负担（无、照顾子女数少于12个的父母、照顾其他成年人、或照顾儿童和老年人/老年人/儿童以照顾员工）与工作中HWI感知、幸福感和不适（抑郁、情绪耗竭、工作投入）之间的关系。
我们样本中超过20%的人属于老年护理者情况，或属于照顾老年人和儿童的双重角色或“夹心”情况。不同年龄组之间的家庭负担有显著变化：55至64岁的员工中，这一比例接近27%。与非护理员工相比，护理员工的HWI、个人和工作不适水平更高，工作投入水平更低。“仅”照顾老年人（典型的护理员工情况）与最负面的结果相关。
本研究证实并强调了西方组织中护理员工数量的增加以及他们更高水平的HWI、工作脱离、情绪耗竭和抑郁。随着普通人群和劳动力队伍老龄化加剧，越来越多的员工出于必要成为护理员工，应制定稳定的关爱护理员工的工作场所政策（CFWP）。
